Doula Tips and Tits with Kaely Harrod

The process of branching into doula work full-time can be intimidating. Especially when life keeps on going at a fast pace around you. Today’s conversation is with one of my first Doula Coaching students, Dominique Jones. I’m so excited to introduce you and let you hear a bit of her story in this doula work. Meet Dominique Jones of MAMA Birth Services Dominique Jones is an Urban mom from Washingto...

Strategy and planning is at the center of what we do as doulas. If we support birth we tell our clients they should go into the process of labor with a plan, or at least a bit of knowledge and some preferences! Your Doula Business is similar to this!  You need to have some kind of game plan, and also a little bit of flexibility for how this might go. You need to have an idea of not only where you...

As a coach I doula doulas :) I teach doulas how to organize, run and plan their businesses, but also guide them with compassion, empathy and support throughout the whole year we are together! I pour into my doulas so they can pour into their clients. Doula coaching is something that not as many people have heard of. I have so many conversations explaining what doulas are/do so this doesn’t feel th...

Taking time off-call is very important to doula work. Being on-call has all kinds of wear and tear that comes along with it. Because of that doulas have to be more intentional than many professionals at prioritizing time off and healthy amounts of breaks. This is of course part of what we talked about in the doula burnout series as it is a major contributor to burnout! This episode dives into how...

100 Episodes!!!! In honor of the expansiveness of this podcast we are diving into using your own tools that you teach your clients as a support to yourself as a doula. I want you to ask yourself some questions today: when you're thinking about your business kind of growing and expanding like a pregnancy, what do you want the end result of that to be? What do you want to nurture?  I start with...

Sometimes as a doula you feel pressure to add all kinds of services to your business. The problem is that there are two problems with that: 1. There are costs involved with adding services and certifications and 2. You can end up adding services that you do not actually want to do!  My big example of this is placenta encapsulation. I was told for many years that I should add that service to my bus...

We are at the forth and final cause of Doula Burnout that we are diving into throughout this mini series. Today’s cause is trauma. Both primary and secondary. Now, the last three were a touch easier to control and buffer, but this one is the one that you have very little control over whether it happens, but you have lots of control over how you respond to it. Trauma is hard because it looks/sounds...

Doula Burnout cause number three! Now, part of the goal here is to highlight causes of doula burnout that you can actively work to change in your business. I’m not necessarily saying everyone can change all of them at once, but they are able to be changed and as much as you can be prophylactic about burnout the more successful you’ll be at avoiding it. This third cause of burnout is not charging e...

Doula Burnout has a variety of causes, but there are four that seem primary to me. Last episode dove into overworking or hours worked. This episode goes into Self Care or lack of self care and how that contributes to doula burnout. Key Takeaways: Self care looks a bit different for everyone, so you need to define it for yourself Breaks and Rest are just as productive and important as work! It is v...

Doula Burnout is a hot topic. There are many articles that say various amounts of time, but for sure most agree that burnout is a career that has an incredibly high rate of burnout and many doulas don’t stay in business beyond a few years. One major way to avoid burnout is to know the possible reasons for it and working to buffer those with prevention as much as possible. Today’s episode is the fi...

How much can and do doulas charge? This is a follow-up question from our last episode about whether it’s possible to make a good living as a doula. Oftentimes when you are in a solo-business you have to set your own prices, but that means many Doulas set their prices on the lower end. This is for many issues from imposter syndrome to the ongoing lower value of female-dominated roles in society. Bu...

How much money do doulas make? Is it possible to make a decent living in this work? Well that’s today’s topic! YES, as a doula you absolutely can work full-time and make a wonderful living. I get paid more now, from my work as a full time doula than I ever have in teaching or childcare or any other field I’ve been in.  Just like everything there is nuance there. What you hope to earn and what you...

Doula Work, especially Birth Doula specifically, is an on-call job in most cases. That means it comes with a good deal of unpredictability. When someone is branching into this work as a part time venture or as a second career, it can be hard to do this work alongside another job that has specific hour requirements.  However, it is absolutely possible to be a doula and also work a part time or full...

Childbirth Education is often a service that people add to their birthwork services as their business grows. Whether you are looking to become a childbirth educator as your main role in the birthwork field or as an additional service for your clients there are some key factors to consider as you’re deciding how to become trained and certified.  Key Takeaways: Consider the following questions as yo...

How long doulas stay during and after a birth varies widely, but today’s episode goes into what’s typical and how to have clear expectations on both sides!  Key Takeaways: Most doulas arrive once a birthing person is in active labor Most doulas include in their contract to stay for the remainder of the labor or to have a backup come if the labor is long and that is allowed by the hospital.  Most d...

Postpartum Doulas function in a wide variety of ways! I know, I know, this is what I say about SO MANY of these questions. But it’s true. However, there’s still some typical and not typical situations in terms of shifts.  For Postpartum Care a shift will be determined a bit by what your family’s needs are. If a family is needing overnight care those shifts are usually a minimum of 8 hours, with so...

Whether you are a doula trying to set expectations for yourself and your clients or a pregnant family trying to determine what’s normal, today’s episode is for you! Doulas all function a bit differently, so as always there’s some nuance to today’s answer. When a doula joins their clients during birth depends on a number of factors. It’s important to remember that there’s no magical way to know whe...

Mental resilience is a huge part of coping in birth. This is why I believe trauma-informed care is vital to birth work. To reduce additional trauma and decrease the chance of past trauma being triggered. Now, having birth trauma DOES NOT mean you weren’t sufficiently mentally resilient. So don’t reverse it to equal shame or condemnation for yourself.  When I read about mental resilience there are...

This is a full on rant. I’m not going to lie. This episode is born of my frustration with the copious amounts of misinformation on this topic across the internet. If you were to search “signs of labor” or some such thing you will find a number of articles all saying something along the lines of “17 signs that labor is coming in the next 24-48 hrs”. Every time I see these I roll my eyes. Because if...

Doulas and Midwives have been confused for a long time by various people. One major misconception is that we are the same or that you only need one or the other if you’re giving birth. Midwives are not the same as doulas, we each play very distinct roles on the birth team. Today’s episode goes into the differences between midwives and doulas and how our different roles complement each other on a b...

Happy New Year!!! Take a second (literally one!) to tell us which audience category you fall into. https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/podcast-audience-quiz   Harrod Doula Services Online Services to Help you prepare for birth and postpartum!  Doula Mentoring Birth Preparation Course Birth Comfort Strategy Session Newborn Care Class Postpartum Prep Course (for YOU, not the baby!) Birth Planning Wo...

It’s our last episode of 2022!!! How did this year both go SOOO slow and also completely zoom past? I feel like I’m settling into my old age of 36 when I say “how is it already (insert month or year here)!” To wrap up this year and this Postpartum series I want to answer a question that’s super important to me. That question is: does my body change after giving birth? The short answer is yes! Yes,...

Preparation for feeding your baby can feel a bit daunting because if your baby’s not here yet it’s very theoretical. However, depending on your feeding plan there are a few things you can prepare in advance and just know in advance to ease that journey. Today’s question is answered by our last Special Guest of 2022 Jess Morlan.  GUEST SPEAKER: Jess Morlan:  Jess is a registered nurse, certified la...

When and how do you know if you are struggling with a postpartum mental health disorder? What’s considered postpartum depression vs baby blues? These are common questions people have and questions I hear all the time from clients, so today we are talking all about that.  In order to dive into this more thoroughly we are joined by a special guest: Cindy Kim. Cindy is a psychotherapist who has a pri...

You’ve likely heard that your hormones go just a touch bananas in the postpartum time. That is true, but how does that feel and look? What is normal? When should you be concerned? That’s what this episode is all about. From postpartum night sweats to weepiness what might you feel in the early weeks postpartum and how to prepare for those things!  KEY TAKEAWAYS: Hormones show up in a variety of way...